Marathon #24 - Extra Miles & Norwegian Foot March 3/5/22

 

We thought we were ready! Little did we know what we were getting into when we accepted the invitation to run this marathon.  Extra Table that feeds the hungry partnered with the Norwegian Foot March at Camp Shelby for the first ever marathon in Hattiesburg.  100 civilian runners were invited to come run along side the military as they did their Ruck march.  

 600 soldiers from 34 different states coming together to earn their ruck badge.  Considered by many to be the most challenging foreign military badge.  To earn this badge, you must complete the ruck in 4 hours 30 minutes for men, for four hours and fifty minutes for women, with varying times for different age groups.   Participants must complete 18.6 miles while carrying a 25-pound rucksack within their time period.  And they can earn bronze, silver or Gold badges depending on the number of times they have earned the badge.. Gold = 6+ times!  To say this is impressive to watch is an understatement!  I was amazed!  I witnessed sheer determination, discipline, and just plain guts as the military marched in full gear, including BOOTS, and carrying a 25 pound rucksack!  

Several local Pine Belt Pacers that ran in the marathon.. Lots of friendships in this group!

We were all smiles BEFORE the race....

All of the marathoners....Have I mentioned it turned out to be HOT?????? The last couple of weekends we've had great running weather... lows 50s...  Well on March 5 the weather lady decided to throw us a curve ball!  High between 75 - 80!  I was so thankful for cloudy skies most of the race.  However, I was in shorts ... not full gear like the military and I was SOAKED!  Not a dry thread on me!  I can't imagine how they felt!  

The military started at 7am and we started at 7:10am.   We ran the same route with them up until around mile 9.   

At this point we split for our extra 7.6 miles to complete our 26.2 miles for our marathon.   Now up until this point we had nice paved roads with rolling hills.  Penny and I were trucking along feeling great.  She was actually telling me to slow my roll. 😂😁  She tends to keep me in line. 😎 Well, we had no idea what was ahead of us when we split off from the military.......  Neither of us had read the long email with the "details" on the course.... and actually I'm glad we didn't.. 😉

I'm not sure dirt/gravel really is a good description of what we ran on.... there were ROCKS.. Lots of ROCKS... not tiny little rocks.. .but the size rocks that will make you roll your ankle in a heartbeat and going down hill on those rocks make you feel like you were going to slide and bust your butt.  Let's just say it was CHALLENGING!!  The first aid station we came to we asked the guys how much longer the gravel was going to last... one guy said "a minute'! and another one said oh like 2 miles.... BOTH LIED. 😏  Probably so they could keep us pumped and running.   Our friends, Michelle, Felicia and Anna that were behind us running kept texting asking us how much longer on the gravel.  We  kept replying .... we STILL on it!  It seemed to last forever!  😕 And basically it did last like the full 12 miles that our email had said it would.  By mile 17 my body was feeling the heat.  I felt like I was on fire.  I told Penny my legs wanted to start tightening up.  I quickly used a LMNT pack in my water bottle and man I could tell a difference within a few minutes.  

These things are LOADED with sodium.  My doc had recommended that I try them when exercising in extreme heat.  This was my first time trying them and I believe I'll be trying them again during extreme heat races!  

Soon after mile 20 we found pavement again... 😍 

We were also meeting back up with the military that were still trying to complete their foot march.   AND boy was it Hot by that time of day!  

Mile 22 sign!  

The elevation for the course.

Penny & I finished a tad before Felicia and then Penny, Felicia and I stayed and waited for Michelle and Anna to finish.  It was amazing seeing Anna finish her first in person marathon!   We all received medals and a pretty cool finisher towel. 💗

I will say that I have some marathons that I consider HARD and I would probably put this one as #1 on that list.   I just thought Kona was hard! Maybe if we would of had cooler temps it might make a difference.... MAYBE.... but I'm not so sure... the terrain was hard.  I felt like maybe it was just me being older... but after reading many race reports on social media, I feel differently.  EVERYONE no matter their age has comment on how HARD of a marathon it was for them.  It was very CHALLENGING.  Maybe they made it that way for us marathoners since the military were doing their very HARD foot march ???  😉😀  I was super honored to be among them!  and this will always be a memory that I'll treasure.  I have a lot of respect for our Military and man seeing them complete this task just deepens that respect!  

So here's my time.... not what me and Penny expected when we first started the race.  We were right on pace to sub 5 or be real close to 5 hours.... UNTIL the off road started.   I was 4th in my age group also.  Let me just say a 58 year old ran it in 4:15! Man she must of been in awesome shape!  I want to be her in 2 years.. 😍  for this 56 year old... I feel pretty good about my time for such a hard course.  

And I have to say Rhonda and Martha from Extra Table did an amazing job organizing the runners, aid stations, course, etc.  It truly was so well organized and that means so much to runners doing long distance!  I can't thank them enough and I loved raising money to help Extra Table feed the HUNGRY. 💓

So that's a wrap on marathon #24 for me.  Marathon #25 coming up in 7 weeks ... Penny and I heading to Big Sur... FINALLY!  I've waited since 2020 for this race!!! 

Hebrews 12:1